Specialist event: Digitalization and people - people and digitalization
On September 22, a specialist event on the topic of "People and Innovation" was held by Dachser Spedition AG (Switzerland) in Biel/Bienne. The guests gained some insights into how digitalization is not only changing logistics, but also how people are dealing with it.
Automation is the topic of the day in the logistics industry. In times of an almost chronic shortage of skilled workers and a simultaneous increase in demand for logistics services, innovative approaches are needed to meet customer needs - "just in time", of course. Against this background, the topic of the event could not have been more topical. Four presentations illuminated digitization from different perspectives.
Digital pent-up demand
First, Lars Guggisberg, Director of the Association of Bernese SMEs and member of the National Council, gave an overview of the current state of digitization in Switzerland. He noted that our country still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of digitization, despite the well-known good framework conditions. He found the lack of willingness to invest and the backwardness in e-government particularly striking, for example, in comparison with the similarly large economies of Scandinavian countries such as Denmark or Sweden, both of which are top performers in IMD's global digitization ranking. Even though political initiatives to promote digitization have recently been successfully pushed through, their practical implementation is likely to take some time, as Guggisberg acknowledged. More promising seems to be a cooperation recently launched jointly by Gewerbe Berner KMU and digitalswitzerland for low-threshold digitization offerings for commercial enterprises.
Digitization for more efficient logistics
The next speaker, Stefan Hohm, Chief Development Officer (CDO) and member of the Dachser Management Board, took the audience into another world. He spoke of a cyber-sozio-physical system in logistics in which the data and physical flows of goods flow into one another and are guided by people to the precise fulfillment. "People are at the center of what's happening. Technology should not make the ultimate decision," is the company's principle. In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML, various innovations have been and are being introduced at Dachser. The fields of application range from semi-autonomously moving industrial trucks to exoskeletons that help employees lift heavy loads to a warehouse designed entirely as a digital twin. Thanks to data matrix codes on all pallets, the goods can be tracked there without gaps - even on screen - which reduces search and loading times. Dachser is also a member of the Open Logistics Foundation, which aims to create cross-industry data standards. All this is aimed at achieving even greater automation in logistics. For example, the Memmingen location already has an automated high-bay warehouse where 200 pallets can be stored and retrieved per hour. The dimensions are 52,000 pallet spaces on 7500 m2. For the future, Dachser is considering two-story transshipment terminals, on the one hand to reduce the land area used, but also to increase efficiency: "In at the top, out at the bottom" could be the formula.
And how are the employees taking part in these developments? Open and transparent communication at all times contributes a great deal to the positive response. Stefan Hohm admitted that, according to the Gaussian normal distribution, there are not only those who are enthusiastic, but also those who first have to be convinced and, last but not least, those who do not want to participate in the latest developments. But by enabling employees to program simple apps themselves for very small processes thanks to no-code or low-code solutions, you can lower the inhibition threshold to new things. And not to mention the fact that this can save a whole army of IT specialists, who are very difficult to find, especially for a logistics company.
The human being: A relational being
But what does digitization fundamentally do to us humans? How much digitization can humans withstand? Markus Ramming, PhD in neurobiology and coach for neuroleadership and neuroscience in management, then addressed these questions. "The brain becomes what we use it for," was his core statement. This means that if a child is "trained" to watch television at an early age, it will one day become an expert on television, Markus Ramming gave as an example. Derived from this: To become "experts" on digitization, we have to learn how to deal with it. Since humans develop routines in many areas, artificial intelligence opens up opportunities not only to recognize these routines, but also to learn them itself. The risk is obvious: at some point, we will no longer be able to distinguish whether it is a flesh-and-blood human being or an artificial intelligence talking on the other end of the phone. "We can be influenced, and AI can learn to exploit this," says Ramming. However, humans can counter this with two strategies: on the one hand, by developing an awareness of the capabilities of digitization, and on the other hand, by creating interpersonal relationships. It should be noted that everyone has individual needs, special motivational factors and fears that must be taken into account. Innovation management only works if this individuality is taken into account.
Automated or autonomous driving?
The last presentation was about autonomous driving. Markus Hackenfort from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW spoke of two lines of development: an "evolutionary" one that assumes five levels (assisted driving, semi-autonomous driving, highly automated driving, fully automated driving and autonomous driving) and a "revolutionary" one that starts directly with autonomous driving. He demonstrated this with the example of "Cruise," a young company that is currently causing a sensation in San Francisco and Phoenix with completely driverless cabs. The speaker went into detail about the advantages of autonomous driving: There are fewer fatigue-related accidents, mobility-impaired people can be better integrated, cab companies can save on personnel costs, and there are also other opportunities for new, innovative business cases along the lines of "... as a service". However, the fact that there is no possibility for a human to intervene can also prove to be a disadvantage. This is because the "cruise" vehicles can be sabotaged by simple "tricks" (for example, by placing an object on the hood that interferes with the camera's view and thus forces the vehicle to stop), which is certainly being practiced in San Francisco. In addition, the autonomous vehicles are noticeable for their "nice" driving style, which can sometimes be a hindrance in queue traffic, for example. The networking standards have also not been fully clarified: Should they be cross-manufacturer or not? And for traffic monitoring: Is there a central control option? And likewise, many cities are likely to ask themselves, based on the experience with e-scooters, which are often parked in the wild: Will the same thing happen with autonomously driving cabs? Nevertheless, Markus Hackenfort drew a clear conclusion: fully automated vehicles are a reality. There will be no stopping further development. After the presentations and discussions, the participants were able to gain a good impression of the high-tech equipment of modern vehicles at the truck driving simulator of Racing-Fuel Horgen. Driving a lorry showed that this is more difficult than one might imagine. But the fun factor was not missing.
Bringing business and science together
Conclusion of the event: The attendees gained interesting insights into the currently much discussed topic of digitalization. Not only industries such as logistics can benefit from its innovations, but also society: Provided it develops the right attitude toward new developments, which entail not only risks, but also many opportunities. "We see trade events like this as an excellent opportunity to bring together experts from business and science and to create images of the future for transport, logistics and supply chain management. We want to motivate participants to continue driving the digital transformation in their own companies and highlight the potential of working with a logistics provider like Dachser," explained Stefan Krüger, Sales Manager Dachser European Logistics Bern.
More information: Dachser Spedition AG
